Tiny Blossoms - ON HIATUS
by orangeyhairedimmortal
Summary: After a battle, Byakuya seems to have disappeared. Upon further investigation, Ichigo discovers that Byakuya has somehow turned into a little boy with no memory of his normal self. How could this have happened? Can it be reversed? And what is Ichigo to do with a tiny Byakuya who uncharacteristically adores him? major AU, parental!Ichigo, Ichigo x Rukia
1. Little Discoveries

Rukia and Renji scouted the battlefield closely. Everyone had looked like they were accounted for except for Byakuya.

"I know I saw him over here. Senbonzakura was released at some point in this section." Renji said, looking around.

Rukia nodded, looking around on the ground even though she fearfully but confidently knew that Byakuya wouldn't be there. He was too strong for that.

"Who are you guys looking for?" Hisagi asked, landing beside them from the air.

"Captain Kuchiki." Renji said.

"Oh, he's not shown up? That's unlike him."

"Yeah, we didn't see him after that large blast."

"Do you think we should tell the Head Captain?" Hisagi asked.

"Tell him what?" Ichigo asked as he appeared next to them.

"Nii-sama is missing." Rukia said in a slightly panicked tone.

"Oh? That's not like Byakuya… Come to think of it, neither was that last move he did…"

"What move?"

"Well, toward the end, Byakuya released Senbonzakura but about two or three minutes later, Senbonzakura suddenly seemed to absorb back into itself, as if Byakuya had called it back in. Which is very unlike him…"

"What's going on?" Kyoraku asked, walking up. "Why is everyone still standing around?"

"Head Captain, Captain Kuchiki is missing."

"Captain _Kuchiki_? Are you sure you don't mean Kenpachi?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"No, it's Captain Kuchiki." Renji said. "Everyone saw him and then all of a sudden we didn't. It's as if he's disappeared."

"This is a serious situation then. I'll gather everyone and tell them to start searching for-"

"Head Captain! Head Captain!"

Kyoraku turned to the Soul Reaper running to him and was puzzled as to why the Soul Reaper was holding Senbonzakura in his hands… as well as in two pieces? No, that couldn't be right…

Rukia saw the sword wasn't whole and her purple eyes widened as the Soul Reaper stopped in front of them.

"I- I found this next to an empty shihakusho, as well as the ceremonial scarf…"

The Soul Reaper held out the silver scarf and Rukia grabbed it, beginning to shake.

"No! Nii-sama! NII-SAMA!" she screamed, going to her knees.

Renji closed his eyes, not believing his captain was gone. He was sad for Rukia, since she loved her brother very much, and now he would have to become the captain of Squad 6…

Ichigo, on the other hand, gripped Zangetsu angrily and turned away, putting the swords back in their sheaths.

"Ichigo!" Renji yelled.

"I can't believe he's gone. It can't be true."

"Ichigo is right." Kyoraku said. "Kuchiki-sama isn't the type to have died from the battle we were just in. He's faced bigger and worse enemies than the ones we vanquished here. Something is amiss, for Byakuya couldn't have been defeated by such weak people."

"But Nii-sama would never lose unless by _death_!" Rukia yelled. "It's not like him at all. Even if he _were_ to lose, which is highly unlikely, he would face the shame head on and not hide away like a coward. He would have been there on the battlefield."

"And that's why I'm going to find him." Ichigo said. "Something doesn't add up…"

"Alright, everyone see if they can find Captain Kuchiki. This is top priority, so everyone needs to be a part of this. We cannot go back to the Seireitei until some sort of semblance of Captain Kuchiki is found!"

All the Soul Reapers dispersed and began to look for Byakuya.

* * *

Ichigo looked around as he heard the others call out for Byakuya. It had been an hour since the battle ended but there was still no answer to the calls for the captain and no one had come up with any findings. Ichigo was very worried, knowing the proud man could never just up and disappear. It went against his very nature to hide from a fault –if he truly had lost. Ichigo sat on a rock to think and rest a bit when he suddenly felt a small amount of reiatsu nearby. Ichigo stood up and walked toward a small wooded area, feeling a very faint hint of Byakuya's reiatsu.

As Ichigo got to the edge of the forest, the Reiatsu was a little stronger, if only because he was more near it, but he looked around and sensed it coming strongly from behind a small tree. He walked over to it and looked into its roots.

"What the hell?"

* * *

"Did you find anything?" Renji asked as the Soul Reapers began to meet back up.

"Nothing."

"Me neither." Toshiro said.

"Where's Ichigo?" Renji asked.

"I saw him over by the edge of the battlefield near the small thing of woods." Ikkaku said.

Rukia held the scarf to her chest and closed her eyes. _Please be okay, Nii-sama…_ she prayed.

"Look, there's Ichigo." Toshiro said, pointing.

Everyone turned to look as Ichigo walked up to them with only his _shitagi_ on and his _kosode_ in a small ball in his arms.

"Ichigo, what are you hiding under your _kosode_?"

"Well… I found Byakuya."

"You did?" everyone asked, huddling.

"Then where is he?" Rukia asked. "Is he alright?"

"He's… uh… well, I guess you guys should just see for yourselves." He lifted his _kosode_ and peeked inside. "Come on, they won't hurt you…"

He moved the _kosode_ and a little face looked at everyone, big gray eyes looking up from under long black hair.

"You found a child?" Renji said, looking a little closer.

"No, I found Byakuya. _This_ is Byakuya. My Reiatsu might be overshadowing his but I'm telling you it's him."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion when the Head Captain closed his eyes and felt for Byakuya's reiatsu. Seeing it was true, he turned to the other Soul Reapers.

"Ichigo's right. It's faint but it's Kuchiki-sama's Reiatsu."

Everyone looked at each other again and closed their eyes, reaching out for Byakuya's reiatsu. Feeling it, everyone looked where it was coming from and all eyes landed on Ichigo, who was holding the child. Rukia gaped in confusion as everyone else began to murmur.

"I do believe we need to take him to Squad 12 for further testing." Kyoraku said.

* * *

 **i wish i could draw because baby byabya is adorable but i can't. anyway, he is attached to ichigo that's for sure**


	2. Misplacement

Once they reached the Seireitei, Ichigo, Kyoraku, Rukia, and Renji all headed to Squad 12 to get a little more information on Byakuya's transformation.

* * *

"He seems pretty attached to you." Rukia said as Byakuya held fast to Ichigo's neck in fear.

"Well, from his reaction to everyone, it looks like he doesn't remember anyone. I'd be scared too… my reiatsu is pretty strong so I'm surprised he even came to me." He looked at Byakuya and smiled. "Don't be scared. We're all here to help you."

Byakuya hugged Ichigo's neck a little more to confirm he trusted him.

Kyoraku hovered over Mayuri, who was looking at the broken form of Senbonzakura. Mayuri corner glanced him.

"If you could _not_ hover over me, I could get done a lot faster."

"Do I annoy you, Captain Kurotsuchi?" Kyoraku challenged.

"Yes."

Kyoraku smiled but respectfully stepped back from Mayuri as he picked up the hilt of Senbonzakura and examined it a little more. He turned around in his chair.

"I regret to say that I don't know. It's new to me, the feeling of the unknown. But if I had a blood sample-"

"Hell no!" Ichigo growled, holding Byakuya closer to him.

Mayuri frowned. "As much as I want to experiment on the captain just for fun, I actually _do_ need a blood sample from him so that I can compare previous blood samples and see what the problem is."

Ichigo looked at Byakuya, who looked at him, and he put his forehead to his.

"He needs to get blood from you, alright?" Byakuya just stared at him. "Do you know what blood is?" He nodded. "Good, then he needs to get a little from your arm, okay? I'll be right here so he won't hurt you."

Byakuya nodded and Ichigo set him down, covering him more with the _kosode_ so he would be covered. He shuffled over to Mayuri. Mayuri pushed back the sleeve and wiped the entry with an alcohol swab. He then stuck the needle in and began to get some blood.

Rukia watched as Byakuya's lip began to tremble. He held out until Mayuri pulled the needle out and he finally broke out in tears, running back to Ichigo. Ichigo scooped him up immediately and looked at his arm, seeing the small puncture wound heal up completely as Byakuya held him around the neck again.

"You did very good, Byakuya."

"Now that I have the sample I need, everyone needs to get out of my laboratory. I can't work with all you mongrels touching everything and being in proximity of me. Get out." Mayuri growled, shooing everyone out.

Rukia looked at Ichigo.

"Are you going to keep watch over him?"

"Actually," Kyoraku said. "He should go back to the Kuchiki Clan and to see Ginrei. He should know what to do with him. If you could please deliver him to the Kuchiki household?" he asked, looking at Ichigo.

"Sure."

"I think I should go as well to try and explain to Grandfather what's happened."

"That might be a good idea."

Rukia nodded and the three of them headed out to go to the Kuchiki mansion.

* * *

"It's so odd. I wonder what caused this." Ichigo asked.

"Where did you find him?"

"He was hiding in the roots of a tree and after a bit of coaxing and reassuring that I wasn't a threat, he finally came out. He doesn't remember anything, not even his own name… At least I don't think so…" He looked at Byakuya. "Do you know your name?"

"Bokuwa.."

Rukia almost died of sugary love-love overload. _Oh, Nii-sama, you're so **cute**!_

"That's good…"

"Dat boo man poked my awm." He said softly, pointing to the tiny bruise on his forearm.

"He sure did." Ichigo said with a smile.

"Who isth dat? He said, pointing at Rukia.

"That's Rukia, she's your sister."

Byakuya looked at her and then looked back at Ichigo. She was small and he was big. He was a lot bigger than him…

"Awe you my daddy cuz you're bigger?"

Ichigo and Rukia stopped in the middle of the street in shock as Byakuya looked at the both of them in confusion. Ichigo finally gained control of himself and cleared his throat.

"Uh, ahem, well, I'm a friend of yours so…"

" _Will_ you be my daddy?"

"Uh…" he looked at Rukia for help.

"You have a grandfather who will take good care of you until you get back to normal. We're going to meet him now." She said.

"But I want Itsugo to be my daddy. He's not scawy."

Rukia smirked as Ichigo smiled nervously. He liked kids but this was _Byakuya_ , the most stuck up, proud, and emotionless person that Ichigo ever knew. Having him just blurt out that he liked Ichigo and wanted him to take care of him was just too much. To Rukia, it was adorably funny but to Ichigo it was awkward.

"We'll uh… see what happens when we go to the Kuchiki mansion, okay?"

Byakuya nodded as they entered the gates.

* * *

Ginrei lifted a white eyebrow at Byakuya and then looked at Ichigo and Rukia.

"If you wanted to tell me that you had had a secret child, Rukia, I would be disappointed but happy for you. And with Ichigo Kurosaki… he will be a strong child indeed."

"No! No, Ginrei-sama, this isn't my child. This is Nii-sama."

He looked at her and blinked.

"Explain that to me again?"

"We really don't know what happened but Ichigo found Nii-sama like this after this last battle. The only clues we have in regards to his appearance is the fact that Senbonzakura is broken."

"My grandson would never have broken his zanpakuto. Byakuya is too smart for that."

"That's the thing, Ginrei-sama, is that it isn't like Byakuya at all." Ichigo said. "Someone did this to him and now he's like this."

"Ginrei-sama, this _is_ Nii-sama."

"Your jokes are quite humorous, Rukia, but I cannot believe that my grandson would end up this way."

"He looks _exactly_ like Byakuya but just really tiny!" Ichigo yelled.

"Itsugo?" Byakuya asked in confusion.

Ichigo's rage subsided enough for him to compose himself and he looked at Ginrei.

"Fine, if you won't take him in, do I have your permission to take care of him?"

"Do as you please."

He bowed and left to back outside.

* * *

Ichigo tromped outside with Rukia on his tail. She could tell he was livid but the story _was_ a little outlandish. Although Ginrei could have thought of another scenario better than the one he had…

"I can't believe he didn't believe us. I mean, he looks just like Byakuya. Just tinier."

"And cuter."

"That is not the point."

"Did I do somefing bad?" Byakuya asked.

"No, you did nothing bad. But, it looks like you'll have to stay with me for a while."

Byakuya's face brightened. "Yay!"

"That's a first." Rukia said, looking at Ichigo. "I've never seen him happy to be near you at all. Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" he said, putting Byakuya down and holding his hand.

"Helping Nii-sama. You know that he would have left you out there in the tree and then told me or Renji to go and retrieve you."

"And _you_ know that I'm not an ass like him."

Byakuya grabbed a hold of Rukia's hand as the three walked back to the squads. Byakuya looked up.

"Awe you gonna be my daddy now?"

Ichigo sighed but didn't answer the question.

Byakuya decided to ask later as he watched his bare feet to make sure he didn't step on any pebbles.

* * *

 **ginrei is kind of a douche here but... he needed to be. ginrei would have probably just set him up with a servant. he needs culture... he needs ichigo... because ichigo has a soft spot for kids. i just feel he does**


	3. Too Cute

**i apologize for the fluff and for the shortness**

* * *

Isshin looked at Byakuya as Ichigo and Rukia walked in with him in between the two of them.

"Is there something I should know?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"It's Byakuya, Dad." Ichigo growled. "Something happened to him and now he looks like this."

"He's awfully cute." He said, bending in front of Byakuya. "Can you say Isshin?"

"Isthin…" he said softly, unsure about this man.

Isshin grabbed him up and hugged him, swinging about.

"Oh he's so adorable! He's just like you when you were little and cute and not acting like a know it all. Daw…" he said, rubbing his cheek against Byakuya's.

Byakuya cried out and reached for Ichigo, who plucked the poor child from his father's grip.

"Dad, come on. You're scaring the hell out of him. He can hardly remember himself, let alone withstand _you_. Be glad he _is_ a kid or you'd be sprawled out and probably stabbed with a million shards of steel if he'd been his normal self."

"But he's not. He's a little adorable thing."

"I'm going to get him away from you, you freak." Ichigo growled, taking Byakuya to his room.

* * *

"Itsugo, dat man hurt my cheek." Byakuya said, touching his cheek. "He had pwickwy fings on it."

"That's called a beard."

"How come you don have one?"

"Because I look silly with a beard." He said, going to his closet to see if he could find something to put Byakuya in besides his own clothes.

Rukia entered his room and Byakuya pointed to his cheek again.

"Nee-chan, wook what dat man did! My cheek is itchy!"

Rukia tried to contain herself but couldn't and grabbed her brother up, hugging him to her tightly.

"Itsugo!"

"What is _with_ you people?!" Ichigo growled, grabbing Byakuya back and held him normally. "I swear, you'd think he was a teddy bear or something. You _do_ realize that if he grows back up and he finds out that you all did this to him, he will destroy you guys."

"But right now he's a cute little kid that has no defenses against his _big_ sister." Rukia said with a smirk.

"I think that's why he likes me better anyway, because I treat him like a person… Now, I need to get him some clothes."

"Oh, I got some for him. Lieutenant Yachiru told me where she got hers." She walked over and held out her hands. "Come on, Byakuya, I promise to be civil."

"What's dat?"

"She won't glomp you like a weirdo."

Byakuya trusted Ichigo and let Rukia take him and stand him on the bed. She took off Ichigo's _kosode_ and held out a small pair of undergarments, looking straight into Byakuya's face.

"Put your legs in the holes and then we'll put you in a nice shihakusho."

Byakuya did as told, holding onto Rukia's shoulders to stick his legs in and then Rukia began to put the shihakusho on him. The last touch was to put his little sandals on and Rukia turned to Ichigo.

"Aren't these adorable? I didn't even know these came in this size!" she said to Ichigo.

"They had to have since you and Yachiru wear sandals."

"Are you indicating that my feet are abnormally small?" she growled, putting the sandals on Byakuya.

"Not just your feet." Ichigo mumbled.

Rukia finished tying the sandals and then punched Ichigo square in the stomach, making him double over. She left the room and Byakuya ran to him.

"Itsugo, are you okay?"

"I'm fine… Just remember not to provoke your sister." He stood up, rubbing his stomach where she had hit him and held out his hand to Byakuya. "Come on, let's go."

Byakuya took his hand and walked out with Ichigo.

* * *

As Ichigo walked, Byakuya let go of his hand and began to walk behind him, jumping into Ichigo's footprints. At one point he tripped and fell and when he got back up, Ichigo was gone.

"Itsugo? Itsugo!"

He suddenly seemed so alone and afraid, like he was when he woke up in all those clothes and the men fighting with shiny sticks. He was so scared now. Why would Ichigo leave him? Did he make him mad? He tried not to cry but feeling so lonely made him begin to cry and he put his hands over his eyes to try and stop.

"Is this a friend of yours?" he heard a booming voice say over him.

Byakuya looked up and saw Captain Kenpachi looking down at him with a curious stare. Yachiru popped out from behind Kenpachi's shoulder, scaring Byakuya, and she turned her head.

"No, Ken-chan, that's not my friend… He looks lost though."

Byakuya just stared at Zaraki as he bent down to Byakuya's level.

"Why you crying? Men don't cry."

"I- I lost Itsugo."

"Ichigo, huh?" Zaraki looked down and saw the footprints leading from where he had found Byakuya. "I don't think Ichigo is that idiotic to leave a kid near my squad."

"Come on, Ken-chan, let's take him back to Ichigo." Yachiru said, pulling on Zaraki's hair.

"Nah, I think I'll just take him."

"Like hell!" Ichigo growled, coming from around the corner. "There you are, I was looking everywhere for you."

"Itsugo!" Byakuya yelled, running to him.

"What did you do to him, Kenpachi?"

"Nothing."

"He was sad and we heard him crying!" Yachiru offered.

"Itsugo, you weft me."

"I'm sorry, Byakuya. I got lost in thought and started doing shunpo and lost you. I should have been looking out for you."

"Can I be on your shoulder's like dat?" he asked, pointing to Zaraki.

"Ah, well, I'm not even sure how _they_ do it, but I can put you on my shoulders a different way."

He held Byakuya out and then twisted him so that he rested on his shoulders. Byakuya looked around at the higher ground and held onto Ichigo's neck.

"I'm fwying!" he laughed, holding up his hands.

Ichigo smiled a little as he walked along with Byakuya making airplane noises above his head.

* * *

 **~*~ ELSEWHERE~*~**

"Well, that was a weird development."

"What is?"

"See for yourself…"

The man handed the binoculars to the other man and he looked through them, watching Ichigo carry Byakuya around. He frowned.

"How the hell did that happen?" he grumbled.

"Beats me… but, we got the sword out of the way."

"Yeah, but he still has power. We didn't destroy Senbonzakura, just broke it. If it starts getting repaired, whatever we did to him will be reversed. We have to make a move before that happens."

"Let's go tell the boss."

"Yeah."

* * *

 **uh oh it looks like we have a couple of fiends here. who are they and why would they need byabya out of the way? and baby byakuya makes me feel like hearts are flying out of my head. as we can see, he's so cute that even zaraki couldn't resist him. although byakuya has a thing about people with high spiritual pressures... anyhow, that should be enough cuddling for now and get down to business *nod***


	4. Clan Ranking

**i apologize if i repeat things in here cuz everyone is telling everyone the same thing but different people. oh, and there are only three clans mentioned by name (shihoin, kuchiki, and shiba) the shiba clan fell from nobility for some reason and the kasamioji clan is an anime clan... so... two clan houses are up for OC-ing haha!**

 **ps: i dunno why I decided to use spiritual pressure instead of reiatsu. it's the same thing but one is ten times easier to type**

* * *

A couple days later, Ichigo went to Squad 12 to ask Mayuri about the development in regards to what he found in Byakuya's blood that could have done this to him. Byakuya wanted to go with him but he told him to stay with Rukia.

* * *

"I wanna go wiff you, Itsugo." Byakuya said, bouncing up in down and making a moaning sound, like he was about to start a temper tantrum.

"Byakuya Kuchiki, I'm surprised at you." Ichigo said, turning to him. "I've never seen such a sour face."

Byakuya pouted as Ichigo bent down in front of him.

"Look, I'm going to the person who had to stick you with the needle when you got here the first time, remember? You didn't like him, did you?"

"No…"

"So there's no reason to come with me. Rukia will take good care of you, right?"

"Of course." She said.

"But Nee-chan keepsth hugging me weally tight! I can't breaff."

"Rukia, don't do that." Ichigo growled.

"Fine…"

"See? She won't do it anymore, okay?"

Byakuya looked skeptical and Ichigo rustled his hair a little.

"Don't worry, we'll get you back to normal and hopefully everything will go back to the way it was."

Byakuya pouted again but he let Ichigo go without a hitch this time.

* * *

"From the sample that I received, it looks like someone injected him with a serum that made it where instead of his Spiritual Pressure building and making Byakuya stronger, when his Spiritual Pressure reached a certain stage (probably when he was about to release his shikai) it didn't aid him but leaked from him."

"What does that mean?"

"It means someone wanted to get the _sword_ out of the way by trying to make the zanpakuto weak enough to be broken. By releasing Byakuya's Spiritual Pressure from his body, it would play a large role in how the zanpakuto would react to him. It looks, though, that whoever did it, maybe gave him too much."

"What do you mean?"

"The amount of the foreign body was almost double what it would have taken to decrease the captain's Spiritual Pressure to a point that his own zanpakuto would find him unworthy of wielding it. Someone wanted to be _triple_ sure that Senbonzakura rejected Byakuya."

"So you're saying that they gave Byakuya something that would reduce his Spiritual Pressure, sort of tricking Senbonzakura into thinking that Byakuya was no longer worthy of wielding it?"

"That's what I just said, you idiot. Were you not paying attention?" Mayuri growled.

Ichigo made a face at him but put his hand to his chin.

"Why would they want Senbonzakura out of the way? What threat could that be? I mean, I know it's a very powerful zanpakuto but there are others just as powerful. Why not the Head Captain?"

"Who knows… Now get out of my lab and figure it out for yourself. I did the easy part for you. I have other things I need to do." He said, waving him off.

Ichigo nodded and went back to his barrack.

* * *

"So they were trying to get Senbonzakura out of the way and Nii-san's body got caught up in it?"

"I think it goes hand in hand. Mayuri said that they were tricking Senbonzakura into thinking that Byakuya had become unworthy of wielding him but that whatever they used may have had this effect instead. Whatever the case, Senbonzakura is broken at the moment and Byakuya is still a little kid."

"But at least Senbonzakura can be repaired… we just have to find a way to raise Byakuya's Spiritual Pressure to back when he was an adult and maybe that will help out."

"Bwahaha! You'll never be able to get him back to his normal size!"

Ichigo and Rukia looked out the window and saw a man sitting there laughing his head off.

"Who are you?" Rukia asked, putting her hand on her hilt.

"Names don't matter, girl. All you need to know is that Byakuya Kuchiki won't be getting back to normal anytime soon."

" _Sai_!" Rukia yelled, pointing at the intruder.

He yelled, his arms suddenly pulling back behind him and he fell into the room. Ichigo then grabbed him by the back of the collar and held him up.

"Who are you and why did you do this to Byakuya? What do you have against him?"

"You'll never get me to tell!"

Ichigo thought for a second and then nodded.

"You're right. We will never get you to tell us. But I know someone who _can_."

* * *

"Head Captain, you have some visitors." Nanao said, coming into his room. "It's Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-san, and an unknown individual."

Kyoraku nodded. "Send them in."

Nanao nodded and opened the door, where Ichigo dragged the intruder into the room and then threw him onto the floor with a loud thud. Kyoraku looked behind him and then turned fully.

"What brings you two here?"

"We found this guy laughing in the window and told us we would never get Byakuya back to normal. We figured you'd be able to get him to tell us what he did, how he did it, and how to turn Byakuya back."

Kyoraku looked at the man and put his hand to his cheek.

"Hmm… What's your name?"

"Like I'd tell you."

"You don't look like any Shinigami that I've seen in the Seireitei. You must be from the Rukon District." The man looked away and Kyoraku smiled. "I thought so. From the looks of you though, you don't look like you're too impoverished so you must be from a higher district. Maybe ten or so…"

"I happen to be part of a noble house, thank you."

"Really? A noble house, huh?" Kyoraku said in a slightly mocking tone.

"If you're part of a noble house then you know good and well how childish it is to have done whatever you did to my older brother." Rukia growled.

"Oh? Did Mayuri find out something?" the Head Captain asked, looking at Rukia.

"He said that someone figured out a way to make Byakuya's Spiritual Pressure so low that Senbonzakura would think he was unworthy of wielding him but something must have happened and turned Byakuya into a kid instead."

"Is that true?" Kyoraku asked the man.

The man didn't answer.

"This is why we brought him to you, sir. We need answers so that we can get Nii-san back to normal and fix his zanpakuto."

"I see… What clan are you from?"

"I won't tell you."

"Why are you trying to get Byakuya out of way?"

"We weren't trying to get him out of the way, just Senbonzakura."

"What do you have against it? You're part of the Soul Society, so why try to take it out?" Ichigo asked.

The man seemed to refuse to talk and Kyoraku shrugged.

"Sorry, my hands are tied. If he won't talk, he won't talk. Maybe you should ask your grandfather if there are any enemies of the Kuchiki Clan out there."

"We'll go to the mansion after we grab Byakuya from my dad's division. I'm sure he's not happy about being there."

* * *

As suspected, when Ichigo went to Isshin's squad to get Byakuya, Byakuya was quick to run to Ichigo, eyes full of tears. Ichigo grabbed him up as he buried his face in his chest.

"What happened?" he asked softly, touching Byakuya's hair gently.

"Nothing much." Isshin said. "He's just not as fun as you, Ichigo. No, seriously, even though he's a little kid, he's still the same Byakuya Kuchiki. He wasn't too keen on playing around and got scared and hid somewhere for the remainder of his stay."

"I'm telling you, you people are going to give this kid a heart attack. You realize that he doesn't remember anyone, right? I mean, he's okay with me, but he doesn't really know who anyone is. All you're doing is scaring the shit out of him, Dad. If I ever have children, I'm not leaving them with you."

Isshin just smiled, leaning on the wall.

"He's quite irresistible. It's a wonder you haven't fallen for that Kuchiki charm… not necessarily little Byakuya's…"

Ichigo and Rukia both blushed as Ichigo turned away.

"We're leaving."

They used shunpo to get away as Isshin smirked.

"Have fun, son…"

* * *

They reached the Kuchiki mansion and Byakuya looked up from Ichigo's chest and looked up at him.

"Isth thisth gwampa's housthe?"

"Yes, this is his house but we have to ask him some questions." Rukia said with a smile.

Byakuya mumbled something and laid his head on Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo frowned and reached up to touch him on the forehead.

"He's pretty warm, Rukia."

Rukia turned back and put her own hand on his forehead.

"You're right… We may need to take him to Squad 4 and ask them what they think. It probably has to do with the regression. Am I right?" she growled, looking at the man they still had tied up with them.

He didn't answer, which seemed to be his default, and they walked into the mansion. Rukia asked to speak to Ginrei. A couple minutes later, Ginrei walked out and lifted an eyebrow.

"I thought we had already discussed the matter about this child, Rukia."

"I'm sorry, Ginrei-sama, but we have more information about this and also need to ask for information."

"I see… Come, let's go into the tea room."

They followed him down the hall to a room that overlooked the backyard of the mansion.

"Now that we are somewhere a little more comfortable, I implore you to speak."

"Ojii-sama, when we said that this little boy was Nii-sama, we were not trying to trick you. It really _is_ Nii-sama and we asked Captain Mayuri to do some testing. Somehow, Nii-sama was injected with something that would lessen his Spiritual Pressure so that Senbonzakura would find him unsuitable to wield it and make it where he couldn't use his shikai or bankai."

"But whatever that stuff was," Ichigo continued. "It didn't just lower his Spiritual Pressure but it seemed to release it from him, as if he lost it. In losing the Spiritual Pressure, it somehow reduced him to a child. Mayuri seems to think the state of his body is due to the fact that he was gearing up to use a lot of Spiritual Pressure probably to release his shikai and this serum that was given kicked in instead."

"We have proof of it too. This man told us that we would never get Nii-sama back to his real state, as if he knew what was going on." Rukia said, pulling on the rope to pull the man forward. "He won't tell us who he is but we thought that maybe you'd be able to tell us if there was any noble families that had anything against Nii-sama's abilities."

Ginrei looked at Byakuya, who was very flushed and breathing heavily, as he hung onto Ichigo's shihakusho. Now that it had been explained to him a little better, he could see now what his grandson used to look like a small child. It had been many centuries ago but he remembered it. He then looked at the man that Rukia had with her and narrowed his eyes at him.

"I know you from somewhere…" he said as a maid brought in some tea. "You're one of the Chipuchi children…"

The man seemed to not like that he had been recognized and looked away. Ginrei nodded.

"Yes, yes, you're Jinzo Chipuchi. I thought I recognized that eye color… always has been an odd house."

Rukia and Ichigo looked more at this Jinzo and found that his eyes were colored different colors, as if there were a line drawn in the iris to mark the difference.

"I've never heard of the Chipuchi House." Rukia said.

"That's because they aren't actually a noble house. They want to be but have not succeeded. They are a scientific household, doing many experiments but so far have not done anything impressive enough to be granted favor to becoming a noble house."

Jinzo looked away. "With no heir to the Kuchiki Clan, we will get our chance once Byakuya is out of the way. We don't want to kill anyone, of course, we just want to have the clan fall from grace, like the Shiba Clan. With the Kuchiki Clan out of the way, we can rise up to into its place."

Ichigo made a face at him.

"You have some delusions… So regressing the heir to the Kuchiki Clan was your grand idea?"

"Reducing his Spiritual Pressure, dumbass."

"Yeah well, all you did was make him a little kid. Unless you fix him, all he'll do is grow back up again and there will _still_ be an heir to the Kuchiki Clan. Your plan sucks."

"Not if he can't get his zanpakuto to speak with him again. A clan leader who can't even wield his own sword is nothing but a low class Soul Reaper. If a clan leader can't even gain the favor of his zanpakuto then what good is he? Our plan is working in our favor in regards to Senbonzakura being broken. Even if he were able to get it to rebuild itself, his Spiritual Pressure would still be too weak."

"Nii-sama could raise it at any time." Rukia argued.

"And probably be reduced to a small child yet again. Every time he releases a large amount of Spiritual Pressure, he will be reduced to a child. Do you see how flushed he is? How feverish?" Ichigo and Rukia looked at him as he breathed in short breaths, looking very feverish indeed. "It's his Spiritual Pressure building back up to make him grow again. The transformation isn't wrong and the serum wasn't wrong. You think that blue skinned quack is a scientist? Ha! The Chipuchi Clan does the ultimate experimentation. The amount is there because even if he grows back up, even if he gets his Spiritual Pressure to an amount of repairing Senbonzakura, it will always reject him since he can't release enough to use shikai or bankai. The zanpakuto won't break again but if he tries to release that amount of Spiritual Pressure, he will be reduced to a child once more. He loses all the way around."

Ginrei frowned deeply and called for the guards to take Jinzo and put him in lockdown in one of the rooms of the mansion. He then looked at Byakuya, who looked at him.

"If what Jinzo says is true, we must let Byakuya sleep. Maybe he will grow up… But, if that is true then the other must be true as well. If Byakuya cannot wield Senbonzakura, then he cannot be the clan leader of the Kuchiki Clan."

* * *

 **so i had to do extensive research on the zpt thing. i couldn't be a shinigami cuz omg, there is so much shit involved with a zpt! anyhow, but it said that even if a shinigami knows the name of it's zpt, if the zpt doesn't feel it's worthy of wielding it, it can not work for them. it mentions that sometimes the amount of sp a shinigami can put forth can cause this. i also read that in most noble clans, the heir has to have a high amount of sp in order to run it. i dunno why, i just read it on the wiki. so much intricacy *faint***

 **and you see i totally pulled a 'kamisama kiss' there huh? baby tomoe anyone? can anyone guess that those eps are my favorite?**

 **ps: mayuri CAN be wrong about motives every once in a while...**


	5. Pride Before A Crash

**sorry for the long hiatus. these stories are tricky and i put myself in ruts. anyway, this isn't a long story anyway... enjoy!**

 **ps: i can't remember how nel changed from one to the other form so please give me some slack. my internet is not working so i couldn't get an accurate description to go off of .**

* * *

In the long run, Ichigo had to put Byakuya to bed due to the high fever and stayed with him all night. His temperature got so hot that Genrei was worried his grandson may go into hyperthermia and designated Ichigo to stay with him.

When Byakuya woke up, though, things got a little… awkward.

* * *

Byakuya opened his eyes and looked around, realizing he was in his room. He had a headache but that was about it. _I had an odd dream…_ he thought as he lifted his hand up and saw that it was normal sized. He breathed slowly for a couple of minutes when he realized that the bed was heavier than usual. He turned and saw Ichigo was sleeping next to him. Byakuya made a face and held up his hand.

"Bakudo #8: Seki." He said softly.

A blue orb floated to Ichigo and then exploded, sending Ichigo flying off the bed. He hit the wall and fell to the floor.

"What the hell kind of wake up call was _that_?!" he snarled, getting up off the floor.

"What were you doing in my bed, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Byakuya asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Ichigo looked up, realizing that Byakuya was older again.

"Oh, that explains things… Look, you were a little kid and you had a super high temperature. I was taking care of you and I fell asleep. Don't get it twisted."

"So it wasn't a dream…" Byakuya said.

"Do you remember?"

"Bits and pieces; not enough details… So it's true that I turned into a child?"

"Yeah, and if you do any high spiritual pressure stuff like that again, you'll regress."

"That low of a kido will not even disturb my reiatsu… I would like to know what happened and why you seem concerned about my Spiritual Pressure."

"I can try to explain it but your grandfather has a better picture of it. It's super early in the morning though, so I don't know if the old man is up."

Byakuya sat up and swung his legs out of the covers.

"Grandfather has a hard time sleeping. He should be awake to speak with."

"Right… I'll just leave…"

As Ichigo began to leave, Byakuya stood up only to fall flat on his face. Ichigo turned at hearing the thud and gave the man a confused look.

"Byakuya?"

"It appears I may have been wrong…" he grumbled, pulling his hand out to look at it. "This is unacceptable."

"You alright?"

"Obviously I am not. I am too weak to get up."

Ichigo scrambled to him and helped him up, letting him lean on him for support. He could feel his skin was clammy and hot.

"Damn, that stuff is pretty powerful. I _told_ you that you shouldn't have done that."

"Usually a petty kido such as that would not sap me of my strength, Kurosaki Ichigo…" he grumbled.

"Yeah, well, you should listen to me sometimes… you're pretty warm. I hope your spiritual pressure is going to stabilize soon…"

"Why?"

"If it doesn't stabilize then you'll turn back into a kid."

Byakuya sighed as Ichigo helped him along the hallway towards Genrei's room by Byakuya's direction.

* * *

Genrei was sipping some early morning tea when he heard the door open and turned around.

"Sorry, Genrei-sama, we didn't mean to intrude." Ichigo said politely.

Genrei nodded as he looked at Byakuya, who had broken out into a sweat since the room.

"Byakuya… You've returned to your normal age."

"I don't understand what is going on, Grandfather. Could you please elaborate as to why doing anything involving my spiritual pressure will end up in this state or a child?" he asked as Ichigo helped him on his grandfather's bed.

Genrei nodded and told Byakuya the whole story as Ichigo watched him to make sure he was alright. He was getting weaker and weaker, his body starting to fatigue quickly and he almost fell asleep during Genrei's explanation so Ichigo had to elbow him. After hearing everything that happened, Byakuya nodded.

"I see… so if I am to stay in this form as my normal self, I cannot use _any_ form of kido or anything that exerts my spiritual pressure."

"That would seem to be the case. Until Captain Kurotsuchi finds a cure for you or Chipuchi-san tells us what will cure you, you must limit yourself." Genrei sighed a little. "Byakuya, please take care of yourself. There is no sense in you overexerting yourself and causing this to happen every time."

Byakuya closed his eyes for a second and nodded.

"I think I will… I will go back to sleep…"

Ichigo stood up and helped Byakuya back to his feet as he swayed. He finally just passed out entirely and swayed back into Ichigo with his full weight. In a second, Byakuya was back to his childlike form, which Ichigo caught with a bit of difficulty.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Byakuya opened his eyes slightly.

"Itsugo… I don't feel good, Itsugo…"

Genrei knelt down beside him as Ichigo cradled his grandson carefully.

"He's really warm… I thought that guy said that only if he used a high amount of Spiritual Pressure would this happen. Byakuya didn't even do that much, just a small kido at me this morning. I think he lied to us."

"That may be the case… or they used too much of their own serum and are unaware of it. There is a reason they haven't risen to noble status."

"What do you mean?"

"The Chipuchi Clan are, yes, very good inventors and experimenters but they haven't risen to a noble house of recognition because some of their members are… too haughty for their own good."

 _Says the grandfather of the most prideful Soul Reaper in the Soul Society…_ Ichigo thought.

"How do you mean?"

"They get so involved with their creations that they tend to almost always go overboard with them. The older generation was a little more patient with their creations and that's why they are on the verge of becoming a noble house, but the younger generation –who happen to be much smarter- grew impatient and haughty. It seems that Chipuchi-san has taken in that trait. He probably only meant for what he said to happen but he went overboard and used too much and now _any_ use of his Spiritual Pressure that isn't on a normal level will cause this."

"Do you want me to go talk with him?"

"I will speak with Chipuchi-san; he seems to answer me more than you. Take my grandson to Squad 4 to be looked after properly. In this form, he trusts you… although I think in all forms he trusts you."

"I think you don't know your grandson."

"Oh, I know him well. He is a prideful boy with deep respect for the law and that pride sometimes gets in his way. He used to be a little more loose but when Hisana died… well… either way, he has a respect for you that is hidden very well. While he acts like he doesn't like you, I believe he admires your ability to throw caution to the wind."

Ichigo made a face. "I guess so… I'll take care of him, Genrei."

"I know you will."

* * *

"Poor Nii-sama…" Rukia said, looking at her brother with slight pity. "He looks worn out already…"

"Well, that's what he gets for using kido so early in the morning. What kind of person shoots somebody off the bed?"

Rukia smiled a little as Byakuya watched her through sleepy eyes. He was very quiet and seemed content to stay in Ichigo's arms, snuggled against his chest. Rukia had tried to take him on their way to Squad 4 but Byakuya clung to Ichigo with all his strength could muster.

"Do you think Captain Unohana will be able to do anything for him?" Ichigo asked.

"I think she will be able to stabilize him… What about Orihime? Do you think she would be able to help Nii-sama?"

"Maybe Captain Unohana will be able to tell us."

"Itsugo…" Byakuya said, pulling on Ichigo's haori.

Ichigo looked down. "What is it?"

"I feel sick…"

"In your stomach?" He nodded. "Hold on…"

Ichigo stopped and set Byakuya down as he turned over on his hands and knees and vomited on the ground. Rukia watched her brother sadly as he stood up a little, wiping his mouth. Ichigo knelt next to him.

"You okay?"

"My head is hot."

"You have a fever… Do you want to walk or do you want me to carry you?"

"I want Nee-chan…" he said softly, pointing to Rukia.

Rukia was a little surprised at that but she picked him up and he nestled on her shoulder under her hair. Rukia looked at Ichigo in worry.

"We need to hurry."

He nodded and they made their way to Squad 4 as quickly as they could.

* * *

 **oh no, poor baby byabya. could he stay this way forever? hopefully squad 4 can help and genrei can get a better answer from jinzo**


	6. Leaks and Measures

**so to be fair, the title does say it's on hiatus so there will be some updates but not a lot. besides, do you know how much crap has happened between when i started this story and the end of the actual manga? like a shit-ton... anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

Ichigo and Rukia entered the Squad 4 barracks and went to the main clinic that was there. They knocked on the door and Isane opened it.

"Kurosaki-san, Kuchiki-sama…" She looked at Byakuya, who was flushed as he lay against Rukia's chest. "And who is this little guy?"

"It's Nii-sama. Something happened to him and now if he uses any Spiritual Pressure he turns into a little kid." Rukia explained.

"I see…"

"We were wondering if Captain Unohana could give us something to stabilize him or do some testing to see if there is something else we can do." Ichigo said.

"I'm sure we can find something. Come in…"

She opened the door a little more and led them to a room that reminded Ichigo of the examination rooms at the clinic.

"I'll get Captain Unohana." Isane said.

Rukia sat on the table as Byakuya drifted between sleep and awake. Ichigo touched his head softly and he looked up at him.

"Are you still feeling sick?" he asked.

Byakuya shook his head. "No…"

"I'm glad. You kind of scared me for a minute."

"I dun wanna scare you…" Byakuya said softly.

Ichigo smiled. "I meant because you passed out so quickly. We'll get you fixed though, don't worry."

Byakuya smiled slightly. "I know; cuz it's you, Itsugo."

The door opened and Unohana walked in. She looked at Byakuya and smiled.

"Well this is a surprise. I would have never expected to see the great Byakuya reduced to such a state. However did this happen?" she asked.

"This guy from a clan that is trying to become a noble house did this. Whenever Nii-sama uses his spiritual pressure, it leaks out too much or something and he is reduced to a child."

"We were wondering if you could give him something to stabilize him until we got everything cleared up."

Unohana touched Byakuya on the head softly and looked at him intently.

"I will need to take a sample of his spiritual pressure."

Ichigo lifted an eyebrow. "Can you _do_ that?"

"It's harder to capture than blood, but I can't really do anything to help him if I can't measure his output."

"But how can you measure his output when he's like this? This is _because_ of the output." Rukia asked.

Unohana stepped back a little and held out her hand. She nodded a little.

"I can feel where there is a 'leak' in his Spiritual Pressure. Isane, please get the SP-meter."

"The SP-meter? I didn't think it was ready to be tested, sir." Isane said with a pensive look.

"It's ready enough. It won't hurt him and the readings might be a few decibels off but I think the amount itself will be enough to know how much is leaving his body or not."

Isane nodded and went to get the SP-meter.

"Has he turned back into his normal form at any time?"

"He was normal this morning but then he did a kido at Ichigo and it reduced him to a child again."

"Which kido did he do?"

"Bakudo #8." Byakuya said softly.

Unohana nodded. "That kido doesn't require that much Spiritual Pressure to do. He must be leaking a lot of it to have that small of a kido make this happen."

"Here you are, Captain." Isane said, bringing in a strange looking device.

Unohana smiled as she took the device and pointed it at Byakuya.

"Don't worry, I don't need to touch you with it. I just need you to sit there and the SP-meter will do the rest."

Byakuya nodded a little as he relaxed in Ichigo's arms. The device made some whirring sounds as Unohana got closer to him and then dinged like a microwave. Unohana and Isane looked at the small meter and both frowned.

"It's gushing out like a geyser." Isane said.

"Indeed… Is anyone working on trying to fix him?"

"Captain Kurotsuchi is working on something." Rukia said.

"Isane, take these readings to Captain Kurotsuchi. They may be able to help him in whatever research he's doing."

"Yes, sir!"

Isane took the SP-meter and left the barracks. Unohana looked back at Byakuya and bent down a little to match his level.

"I can heal your Spiritual Pressure to get you back to normal but you won't be able to do anything strenuous upon it. Whatever has caused this 'leak' is something that I cannot fix. Do you think you can keep from using any type of Spiritual Pressure while you recover?" He nodded slightly and she smiled. "Good. Kurosaki-san, please put Kuchiki-sama on the floor."

Ichigo bent down and set Byakuya on the floor. He wobbled a little but stood steady as Unohana held her hands on front of him. Byakuya swayed a little and his face flushed before he began to get dizzy and almost fell over. Ichigo caught him and felt his head.

"He's burning up."

"Remember last time though, Ichigo?" Rukia said. "He got a high fever before he turned back and changed back overnight. I think he just needs rest."

"Yes, he will need to be extremely cautious with his output and how he conducts himself. Despite what we see on the outside with his stoic demeanor, your brother isn't exactly patient." Unohana said with a smile.

"Itsugo, I don feel good."

"It's alright. We'll get you back to bed and you will wake up nice and refreshed."

"Will you stay wiff me?"

"I don't think that will be a good idea. I think you'll just blast me off the bed again and we'll be in the same predicament."

"Then just sweep in the chair…" he said softly, fatigue finally catching up to him.

Ichigo made a face. "I don't think the chair would be safe either."

Rukia chuckled. "I think it'd be best if you stayed elsewhere."

"Here, take him back home. I'm going to check on Captain Kurotsuchi's progress and then talk to your grandfather about any other information he found out from that Chipuchi guy."

Rukia nodded and took Byakuya from Ichigo.

* * *

"If you would all stop bothering me about it, I _might_ be able to get some things done. The only thing that's helped out here was the device that the Squad 4 captain gave me. Everyone asking questions does nothing but halt my work." Mayuri growled.

Nemu gave a bow to Ichigo. "I'm sorry, Kurosaki-san, but Captain Kurotsuchi is quite busy and would appreciate it if you left him to his business."

"I get that; I just want to know if he has something to even work with."

"To answer your silly question about my ability to do my job, yes, I do. With the blood sample, the man who did it, and a sample of the captain's spiritual pressure, I can conduct my experiment."

"Great. That's all I needed to know."

* * *

Ichigo walked into Ginrei's little office and looked over at Senbonzakura, half healed.

"How long do you think it will take for Senbonzakura to be back in commission?" he asked.

Ginrei looked over at the sword.

"As long as spiritual pressure still pours from Byakuya, the sword cannot regenerate itself completely and even when it does, most likely it will not let Byakuya wield it. From what my grandson has told me, Senbonzakura is a proud zanpakuto and would feel dishonored to be wielded by someone who didn't have the spiritual pressure to match his strength."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that sounds like Byakuya's zanpakuto alright… Any news from our clan friend?"

"None that I could get out of him. But, I'm writing a letter to the head of their clan to try and help out. We have no qualms really with the Chipuchi Clan but some of the younger generation see the loss of status from the older generation as an insult and thus they try to do what they can to gain their family the noble house status they believe they deserve. Tachoko Chipuchi is a level-headed man whom I have spoke to before."

"Man, I hope the they can help because this is going to be an ongoing thing. Byakuya won't be able to not do anything for long. As Captain Unohana put it, he's impatient."

"That he is." Ginrei said with a small chuckle. "For a boy who acts so emotionless, he sure knows how to cause a problem."

Ichigo smiled but became serious again.

"Do you really think we can get him back to normal?"

"I surely hope so. If not then… Well, I guess you and Rukia will have to marry so that I can have an heir to the Kuchiki Clan in place."

Ichigo practically fell to the floor from the shocking statement and Ginrei hummed a little.

"Yes, yes, I do believe you'll make a wonderful addition to the house and your children will be most gifted."

Ichigo just twitched on the floor. _I'm not marrying Rukia!_

* * *

 **hehe, ginrei's already thinking wedding bells and children. we must keep the clan alive! although i don't know if that would work out since rukia is adopted and not a full-blooded kuchiki. oh well...**


End file.
